I'm not sure if any special AFOL activities are being planed for the opening. I've been asking around but no one has confirmed anything. Even so there has been interest in PennLUG of a few of us getting a group together and going down. So who wants to crash the party?

I have been putting together some preliminary plans for a week's stay.

Mapquest says it is a 17 and a half hour drive from my house. I checked Amtrak, but found that will take over 23 hours each way at a price of about $250. I then checked airline prices and found a fairly convenient, round-trip fare of about $250. That is a direct flight from Philly to Orlando and is 2 and a half hours each way. So that will be my way of getting down there.

I found a house that sleeps 10 (4 bedrooms) that rents for $104 a night for a week's stay. I do not know if that includes all the taxes. But even if it runs another $50 that still makes it less than $15 a night for 10 people and we get a whole house for that price. We could serve a breakfast everyday and leave other meals to people's own decision.

I looked into distances from this house to other things. It is about an hour to Busch Gardens Tampa and Orlando (PaB wall at Downtown Disney). It is 20-30 minutes to Cypress Gardens. And Cape Canaveral is less than 90 minutes away. With a week to fill, we could visit LEGOland three days (Sat, Sun, Wed) Busch Gardens two days (Mon, Tues) and Kennedy Space Center on Thursday. We could visit Downtown Disney at night since it stays open until 11 PM every day. With more than two cars going down (or rented if the need arises) we could accomodate personal changes to that schedule.

I had planned to talk about all this at the next meeting. But I thought we might want to get a jump on this idea. So I am presenting this scheme before hand so all may consider it and be ready to make a commitment.

I defiantly want to got. Not sure yet if I could dedicate a whole week to this or not. I have to check PTO and see if someone would be able to help my wife watch my son. Will let you know what I can do soon.

i'm definitely interested! i haven't done legoland california since may of 2000, and have been super psyced since the first press release of an east coast option

not sure what my work schedule will be like, but with 2 kids, it definitely won't be for the week

flying is definitely the best way to go, southwest cannot be beat, they actually lowered our flight after we booked and sent us a credit for the difference:)

the 'remodeled' legostore is open in downtown disney, but i was really disssappointed as the pab wall is a good 1/3 shorter than it used to be (but still huge compared to kop) and the new round design saw the removal of the awesome display portals that adorned the perimeter. tons of shelf space and display with a huge adjoining freebuilding room with a shiteload of pieces which i perused for pab addins of course, lock ness creature is still there as well as some amazing new outside models of a knight and dragon, snow white and 7 dwarfs, and buzz and woody (i'll download and upload pics someday )

june 3-5 is reserve drill weekend for me so i won't be able to see you guys again july drill is 9-10 so if we could do the 2nd weekend, i could make a meeting for once have fun sorting, planning, and ranting -chris

@Vyronwynter: If you're pondering KSC, I was there for the Shuttle launch in late February, so I've got all the recent intelligence about renting a car (Priceline and Dollar), driving the B(ee|each)line Expressway, the importance of buying your KSC ticket beforehand, why the $41 price is a good deal for any space nut, and why it's valid for two days.

@Legolover530: When were you at the Downtown Disney LEGO Store? In February, it was operating out of a huge yellow tent, with an undersized PaB wall. The panels around the permanent store (I visited in 2008) *looked* like renovation fencing, but weren't specifically labeled as such.

If you're driving through central Florida with the aid of a GPS, know ahead of time where its "reroute and avoid majors" option is. FM-Traffic is handy, too. Because everybody *else* is directed by GPS onto the majors and when they're accident clogged, they are *really* clogged.

And when you take photos, remember establishing shots. That has nothing to do with LEGO bricks but, as far as my scrapbook goes, I'm still kicking myself.

we went down 30april through 10 may for my son sam's 3rd birthday (his fifth and sadly his last free disney admission)

the new building is just round and kind of boring from the exterior with a neat cupola thing up top that looks like a 2nd floor but i think it's just for more natural light. the adjacent room i mentioned had a bunch of desktop cpus still waitig hookup and a full run of wall cabinets with window panes maybe for a local lug to display mocs?

i really loved the old portals around the exterior but i generally don't do well with change (it still breaks my heart everytime i hold a piece of lightbley, yet find such a thrill to find a vein of classic grey in a 2nd hand lot -chris

It really does sound awesome, but I don't think I'll be able to do it. If my life settles down more come October, I will try and make arrangements there (probably with Vicky) to coincide with your trip and only stay for the LEGO portion of the trip. All the LEGO, and a reduced break from work. Let me know if in the coming months the hotels all appear to be filling up (like they do for BrickFair).

vyronwynter wrote:I am making last minute plans for a trip to LEGOland's opening in October.

Nit: At 97 days away, that's not "last minute" unless you're building a space probe and need to hit a once-every-20-years launch window for a "grand tour" of the solar system . For instance, the "last minute" deals on travel sites are no more than three weeks out.

Do we even know what the opening festivities will be? Press releases, official October 2011 calendar. Without that knowledge, I have no reason to be interested in attending. By default, I'm in no rush -- maybe the next time my vacation-cycle returns to Florida, in a few years.

Everybody: Honestly, I did not mean to offend; but I hew to a high standard of verbal precision, and I feel the need to encourage it in others. That's how societies work. Members propose customs and agitate for their adoption until/unless there's sufficient backlash. (Just so it's clear, I don't consider one heated reply "sufficient," and I count silence as assent.)

By "encourage in others" I mean the community at large. Tony's sentence just happened to be an opportune example; nothing personal. There's a subtle difference between "I criticize this sentence" and "I criticize the writer." And in group forums, between "I respond to your idea for the benefit of the group" and "I respond to you." (Note how, in this post, I am explicitly marking intended recipients.)

I believed the prefix "nit:" would adequately designate the peripheral importance of the paragraph. Would it have been less offensive if I'd moved it to the end, after my request for information as to the content of (the assumed) grand opening? If I'd marked it with a smiley? If I'd put it in a box? ("Phil's Grammar Moment: Given the usual meaning of 'last minute' re: travel, i.e., ..., its use here seems misplaced.") I'm not being rhetorical -- I'm really trying to improve my writing skills.

Tony: If you wish to consider this "the last straw" in your resignation that's your prerogative, but IMHO it's a non sequitur -- how does a criticism of grammar bear on your performance as Treasurer? I trust you had other reasons, pertinent ones, like "I'm not reimbursed promptly" or "the accounts are a mess" or "I can't give the task the attention it deserves." (Also, on the same theme of organization, if you want to resign online you should do so in a dedicated thread.)

Last edited by P_Thorne on Sat Jul 09, 2011 12:31 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Made subject line specific.)

Phil, your diligence towards improved grammar skills is amiable. However, the phrase "the last minute" is one that does not have a finite range of time. Each person has there own idea of when "the last minute" is for them. If someone likes to have all events planned 4 months in advance then anything less is "the last minute" for them.

A local TRU here on Long Island had a stack of coupons for the new FLA LEGOland opening up in October. Let me know if anyone needs them and I can send them to a PENNlug member who can then distribute them to the LUG.

This trip really does sound like it would be insanely fun, and very much so worth going! I will have to see if I'm able to get a week off baby sitting, and if so, start rebuilding the ol' Treasure Trove of money for trips! I really hope I get to go to this